LBIB8S 



IS73 



/ 



UBBABV OF OONGRKS 





0Q0S771ba30 



Hollinger Corp. 
pH8.5 



LIT?, lf<i <^ 



"SCIIOOL COMMITTEE 

'~1 



R E P O E T 



ON 



NORMAL SCHOOL. 



18 7 3. 



>>e<c 



BOSTON: 

ROCKWELL & CHURCHILL, CITY PRINTERS, 

122 Washington Street. 

1873. • 



I 



h 



^^^ I ^ I -, ,. Mill iini iiui III II iiin III II til II mil luiiuiu iin n 






CITY OP BOSTON. 



r 



In School Committee, Boston, May 13, 1873. 
Ordered^ That the Committee on the Normal School report 
in print to this Board what measures have been taken by the 
School Board and by the City Council for the establishment 
of a Normal School for the City of Boston ; also that the 
same committee report such recommendations as may seem 
wise for the future action of this Board, respecting the Nor- 
mal School. 



Attest : 



BARNARD CAPEN, Secretary, 

By transfer 
JAN 6 191 



\y 






:ov''. 






\ ^ 






J REPORT. 



I. 

In pursuance of an order in School Committee, dated May 
13, 1873, the Committee on the Normal School respectfully 
present the following 

REPORT. 

I. In the first Annual Report of Nathan Bishop, Esq., 
the first Superintendent of the Public Schools of Boston 
(1851), there is a recommendation for the establishment of 
a Normal School " as a part of the Boston system of public 
instruction." The following is an extract from this Re- 
port : — 

"I recommend the establishment of a Normal School, as a 
part of the Boston system of public instruction. It is due to 
the inhabitants of this city to establish an institution in which 
such of their daughters as have completed with distinguished 
success the course of studies in the Grammar schools may, 
if they are desirous of teaching, qualify themselves in the 
best manner for this important employment. Educated in 
our schools, they would be ftimiliar with our modes of teach- 
ing and management, and would lend a cordial co-operation 
in carrying into efi'ect all the provisions of the school system. 
It is believed that the amount of .money required for the sup- 
port of such a school cannot be expended in any other man- 
ner which will render so much service to the schools." 



\_From City Document No. 32, 1852.] 

ACTION OF THE SCHOOL BOARD. 

In School Committee, January 13, 1852. 

Ordered, That so much of the Superintendent's Report as 

relates to the establishment of a Normal School as a part of 

our system of Public Instruction be referred to a Special 

Committee of five. Passed, and Messrs. Eaton, Tracy, Si- 

monds, Simpson and Hahn were appointed said committee. 

Attest : 

EDWARD CAPEN, 

Secretary, 

Extract from Report ^ Special Committee on Normal 
School : — 

The Special. Committee, to whom, by an order passed 
January 13th, was referred so much of the Superintendent's 
Report as relates to the establishment of a City Normal 
School, have attended to the duty assigned them, and respect- 
fully ask leave to present the following 

REPORT. 

As to the value and importance of Normal Schools, if 
rightly and wisely conducted, we suppose there can now be 
no wide difierence of opinion among the intelligent friends 
of popular education, especially in our own State, where 
such institutions have been so fairly tested and so eminently 
successful. 

Originally instituted in foreign lands and by despotic gov- 
ernments. Normal Schools have been found, wherever tried, 
the most efficient instruments for the improvement of educa- 
tional systems. Their introduction into this State was urged 
with persevering earnestness by many who were deeply im- 
pressed with the conviction that something of the kind was 



needed to elevate the teachers of our common schools, and 
so infuse new life and vigor into the schools themselves, of 
whose inefficiency at that time there was almost universal 
complaint. 

Reasoning from the old and well-founded maxim that, "as 
is the teaclier, so is the school," it was an obvious conclusion 
that one means at least of improving the character of the 
schools, so that they might be brought more into harmony 
with the wise and beneficent intent of the law, was to elevate 
the character of the teacher by raising the standard of quali- 
fication for his office. 

It never was the design, and probably never will be the 
policy, of the State to maintain schools of this character in 
sufficient numbers to qualify and furnish teachers for all the 
schools of the State. But it was confidently believed that, 
should a full and fair experiment be made under her auspices, 
and the results answer the expectations of the friends of 
popular education, the various counties and cities would 
thereby be induced to found similar schools for their especial 
benefit, and under their own control. 

As no adequate reliance can be placed upon the existing 
State Institutions for aflbrding to any great number of those 
who belong to the city, and who may desire to prepare them- 
selves for teachers, the best or even reasonable facilities for 
so doino', there would seem to be no other means so effectual 
for attaining this end, as the establishment of a school for 
this direct object, to be under the exclusive management and 
control of the city. 

The pupils would be the daughters of our own citizens, 
with their homes and their affections here ; they would be 
graduates from our public schools, familiar with their organ- 
ization and methods of instruction ; and lastly, and more 
than all, they would be fitted for the work in which they 
are to engage, by a long, severe, and specific training. 

We wish it to be distinctly understood, that a school, such 



6 



as we have in view, should be one wholly and exclusively 
instituted for the single object of preparing teachers for our 
public schools, — that it should be a Normal school and 
nothing else; — that it should be resorted to by those only 
who may desire to qualify themselves for teaching, and that 
to all such it should be freely opened, at least, as freely as 
would be consistent with the end proposed by its establish- 
ment. 

A Normal school for the city being established, a remedy 
for an evil of no small moment in the aggregate will be, to 
a great extent, if not effectually, provided. We allude to 
the employment of substitutes in place of the regular teachers 
when necessarily absent from ill health or other temporary 
causes. When such vacancies occur, and they are by no 
means infrequent, they are, we suppose, generally filled by 
such persons as can be most readily obtained ; as, from the 
emergency of the case, not much opportunity can be had 
for making a very careful selection ; and thus, for a longer 
or shorter time, a whole class may be under the direction of 
one who has never taught before, and has perhaps no inten- 
tion of ever doing so again, and consequently has given no 
thought to the subject. If, on her return, the teacher should 
find her class, under such circumstances, in as good condition 
as when she left, it would be all that could be expected, if 
not an occasion for congratulation. Now, for all such emer- 
gencies, substitutes might be obtained from the upper class 
of the Normal pupils to the mutual advantage of themselves 
and the schools. They would enter upon such a trial of their 
strength with alacrity and interest. Inexperienced in one 
sense they might be, but not wholly unprepared ; for how 
best to prepare themselves for this very work would have 
been for months the engrossing subject of their thoughts and 
study. 

In conclusion, your Committee, fully satisfied of the prac- 
tical utility of Normal Schools in general, are also firmly 



persuaded that in no other way can the educational interests 
of the city be more promoted, than by the establishment of an 
institution for the special preparation of the large number of 
teachers constantly required for the public service. And 
this conviction has been strengthened by every view of the 
subject they have been able to take. 

Your Committee therefore, fully concurring in the sug- 
gestions of the Superintendent, which led to the adoption of 
the order which they have had under consideration, and act- 
uated solely by an earnest desire to promote the cause of 
popular education in our city, unanimously recommend the 
adoption of the accompanying order. 

GEORGE EATON, 
EEEDERIC U. TRACY, 
ALYAN SIMONDS, 
DANIEL P. SIMPSON, 
SILAS B. HAHN, 

Committee, 

Ordered^ That the foregoing Report be accepted, and that 
the Chairman be requested to transmit the same to the City 
Council, with the request that the necessary votes may be 
passed to establish the proposed school. 



\^Appendix to City Document No. 32, 1852.] 

CITY NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Ik Com3ion Council, July 8, 1852. 

Read, laid on the table, and ordered to be "printed wath 
City Document No. 32, 1852. 
Attest : 

W. P. GREGG, 

Clerk, C. C. 



8 



The Committee on Public Instruction, to whom was re- 
ferred the Report of the cchool Committee, asking that the 
necessary votes may be passed to establish a City Normal 
School, have considered the subject, and respectfully submit 
the following 

REPORT. 

Your Committee are unanimous in the opinion that a well- 
conducted Normal School would very soon furnish a class of 
teachers for our Public Schools much superior to the average 
of those who can now be obtained for the present salaries. 

A Normal School, forming a part of our system of Public 
Instruction, would enable the active and energetic young 
women of Boston to qualify themselves to compete success- 
fully for the places of teachers in our schools, and would thus 
secure the annual distribution of from $60,000.00 to $70,- 
000.00 among the daughters of our own citizens. The pro- 
posed Normal School will prepare from eighty to one hun- 
dred graduates every year, and from si^ty to seventy-five of 
this number will be wanted in our schools annually to fill the 
vacancies that are from time to time occurring. 

Your Committee do not deem it necessary to add to the 
considerations already presented to the Council in favor of 
granting the request of the School Committee, and they unani- 
mously recommend the passage of the following order, viz. : — 

Ordered^ That a Normal School be established in the 

Adams School House [Mason street] as a part of the system 

of Public Schools, for the purposes set forth in the Report 

of the School Committee, being City Document 32, for the 

present year. 

BENJAMIN SEAYER, 

SAMPSON REED, 
JACOB SLEEPER, 
' HENRY J. GARDNER, 
DANIEL N. HASKELL, 
HARVEY JEWELL, 
PETER C. JONES, 
EDWARD A. VOSE. 



9 



July 19, 1852. 
In Common Council : Eead, accepted, and the order 
passed. Yeas, 29 ; Na3's, 8. 

Came up for concurrence. Kead and concurred. 
. Yeas : The Ma3^or, Alderman Ober, James, Reed, Sleeper, 
Perry, Cary and Rich, 8. — Nays, none. 

BENJ. SEAVER, 

Mayor. 



ORGANIZATION OF NORMAL SCHOOL. 

In School Committee, Aug. 3, 1852. 
Ordered^ That the Sub-Committee on the Normal School 
be directed to draw up the plan of organization of said 
school, with the necessary rules to carry out the plan, and 
report to this Board as early as practicable. 
Attest : 

EDWARD CAPEN, 

Secretary. 



[^Extrads from Beport.'] 

In pursuance. of an order in School Committee, dated 
August 3, 1852, the Sub-Committee on the Normal School 
re^spectfully present the following 

REPORT. 

The order of the City Government establishing the Nor- 
mal School was passed in accordance with the recommend- 
ation of the report of a Special Committee of this Board. 

\The utility and importance of special schools for the 
preparation of teachers are now fully demonstrated by the 
experience of other cities, and by the successful results of 
those already in operation in our own State. The want of 
such an institution has long been felt in this city, where a 



10 



very large number of female teachers is constantly required 
for our public schools. Without intending any reflection 
upon the ability and skill of our assistant teachers, many of 
whom are acknowledged to be highly qualified for the pur- 
suit in which they are engaged, the Committee believe that 
deficiencies still exist in many of our schools, which only an 
institution of this kind can fully supply. It is of much 
consequence that the teachers in our common schools should 
be themselves thoroughly and judiciously taught. The 
interests committed to their charge are of the gravest char- 
acter, and their influence, beginning at an age when the 
mind of the pupil is most easily moulded and trained, must 
have an important bearing on the future welfare of the 
community. No wiser course, as it appears to your Com- 
mittee, could have been adopted for the improvement of 
our schools, than to make provision for the careful and 
systematic instruction of those who are to be employed in 
them. We believe that the ultimate effect of these meas- 
ures will be to raise the standard of the qualifications of our 
teachers to a higher point than it has ever before attained, 
and thus to elevate the tone of education in our city. 

It is expected that all who apply for admission to this 
school should do so with the intention of becoming teachers. 
The plan of study and instruction is arranged expressly with 
that view. No promise or engagement T\ill, however, be 
required, the intention or desire to teach being considered 
as implied in the application for admission. 

The school, however, it should be understood, is not 
designed to take the place of a High School for girls, but to 
prepare teachers thoroughly and systematically for the 
efiicient discharge of those duties which they will be daily 
called upon to perform. 

Candidates for admission must be over sixteen, and not 
more than nineteen years of age. 

An application for admission shall be considered as a 



11 



sufficient declaration on the part of a candidate, of an inten- 
tion to engage in the pursuit of teaching after leaving the 
school. 

The course of instruction shall combine a thorough review 
of all the steadies taught in the Grammar Schools, with the 
addition of such collateral branches as are important for the 
explanation and illustration of those studies. Such of the 
more useful and higher studies as it may be found expedient 
to add to the course may be from time to time introduced at 
the discretion of the Sub-Committee. The design is to give 
the pupil an accurate acquaintance with the details of the 
various branches, and at the same time an enlarofed and 
comprehensive view of the principles involved in each, and 
its relation to other departments of knowledge. 

The instructors of this school shall be a master, a principal 
assistant, and as mau}^ additional assistants as may be found 
expedient. 

To carry into effect the provisions of the plan of organiza- 
tion herein proposed, your Committee unanimously recom- 
mend the adoption of the accompanying order : — 

LE BARON RUSSELL, 
E. HASKET DERBY, 
DANIEL P. SIMPSON, 
Connmittee, 

Ordered^ That the Sub-Committee of the Normal School 
be directed to proceed to the organization of the school, in 
accordance with the recommendations of the foregoing 
report. 

Jn School Committee, Sept. 14, 1852. 

The foregoing report was accepted, and the order passed. 

Attest : 

EDWARD CAPEN, 

Secretary. 



12 



[Extract from Beport of School Committee for 1852.] 

This order passed both branches of the City Government 
almost without opposition, and thus an institution was es- 
tablished, which, in our opinion, promises to do more for the 
improvement of our schools, than any one measure which 
has been adopted within the last twenty years. 

Eemaeks. — It appears from the foregoing portion of the re- 
port, that the Normal School was established in 1852 by the 
at?/ Council^ on the recommendation of the School Board, 
and that it was subsequently properly and legally organized 
by the School Board, — in which, according to the statutes, 
its management and control must reside ; and which body 
alone has authority to prescribe its cou:^se of study and to 
appoint its teachers and fix their salaries. 

His Honor the Mayor of the city was Chairman of the 
Committee on Public Instruction, which unanimously rec- 
ommended the establishment of the school, and associated 
with him were men of hio^h lesjal and business talents. 

A careful reading of the Records of the City Council shows 
that from its establishment in 1852, to the present time, 
1873, a period of twenty one years ^ no action has been taken 
by the City Council in any way invalidating or changing its 
foundation. 

II. 

GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL, AND GIRLS' HIGH AND 
NORMAL SCHOOL. 

A few extracts from the records of the School Board, and 
of the City Council, will show the origin of the Girls' High 
School, and its relation to the Normal School. 



^ / 



13 



\From City Document No. 89, 1853.] 

REPORT ON HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRL$. 

In School Committee, May 17, 1853. 
The petition of Walter Chauning, Charles A. AYells, 
Edwin C. Bailey, and three thousand others, praying for the 
establishment of a High School for girls, was read and 
referred to a Sub-Committee consisting of Messrs. Steven- 
son, Dexter, Bates, Skinner and Hazleton, to consider and 
report. 

Attest : 

BARNARD CAPEN, 

Secretary, 

In School Co^oiittee, Dec. 29, 1853. 
The committee to\whom was referred a petition asking for 
the establishment of a High School for girls, having consid- 
ered the same, 

REPORT: 

That the largeness of the number of the petitioners is a 
gratifying "evidence of the interest felt by the citizens of 
Boston in the cause of female education. 

The subject is not free of embarrassments. The experi- 
ment has been tried, failed, and was abandoned. A High 
School for girls was established in 1826 ; and it was discon- 
tinued in 1828, for reasons which would now operate with 
increased force. 

The necessary effect of the establishment of schools of a " 
higher order would be to reduce the standard of education 
in the existing ones, and, by Avithdrawing from them the 
most forward of the pupils, to impair their usefulness to 
those who should remain in them. The influence of classes 
of pupils in the later stages of an education materially affects 
the character of the whole school. The younger are bene- 
fited by their presence. The loss of that influence in our 



14 



Grammar Schools would be deprecated. Take the highest 
class and the most cultivated pupils out of a school, and you 
will have removed one of the most efficient incentives to 
industry and perseverance from those who compose the 
younger classes. 

Entertaining the views which are stated in this report 
your Committee cannot recommend the establishment of 
separate High Schools for girls ; and believing that it is a fit 
subject for further inquiry, whether more provision than is 
now accorded ought not to be made for the education of 
girls in the existing schools, they ask that the petition with 
which they have been charged may be referred to the next 
School Committee. 

For the Committee, 

J. THOMAS STEVENSON, 

Chairman. 



[From City Document No. 43, 1854.] 

In Joint Standing Committee on Public Instruction, 

February 16, 1854. 

Voted, That the Mayor and the President of the Common 

Council, and Messrs. Hinds, Brainard and Dunham be a 

Sub-Committee to investiofate the matter of establishins: a 

course of instruction for girls, to be denominated a High 

School. 

CYEUS GOULD, Secretary, 

For Committee on Public Instruction. 

In Sub-Committee. 

Messrs. Hinds and liice were appointed to report upon the 
expediency of establishing a single and central High School, 
and Messrs. Dunham and Brainard were appointed to report 
upon the expediency of establishing a course of High School 
Instruction in four localities, namely, one at East Boston, 
one at South Boston, one at the south end, and one at the 
west end of the city proper. 



15 



In Joint Standing Committee on Public Instruction, 

April 18, 1854. 

The report was accepted, and ordered to be transmitted to 
the City Council. 

J. V. C. SMITH, 

Mayor. 
JOSIAH DUNHAM, JR., 
GEO. F. WILLIAMS, 

Aldermen. 
ALEX. H. RICE, 

President O. C 
CALVIN P. HINDS, 
E. H. BRAIN ARD, 

Me7nhers C. C. 

The Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on 
Public Instruction, to whom was referred so much of the 
Mayor's address as relates to the establishment of a High 
School for girls, have given the subject such consideration 
as their time would allow, and beg leave to submit the fol- 
lowing 

REPORT. 

It appears from the statistics given in the very able report 
of the School Committee for 1853, that there are the follow- 
ing public schools in the City of Boston, viz. : The Latin 
School, the English High School, the Normal School, the 
Grammar Schools and the Primary Schools. * 

The Normal School, exclusively for girls, Jias an average 
attendance of about one hundred and seventy-five pupils, and 
is designed to educate girls, who have graduated at the Gram- 
mar Schools, /or assistant teachers in those schools. 

The City Council, on the 10th of October, 1825, appropri- 
ated the sum of $2,000, for the purpose of establishing a 
High School for females, and at a meeting of the School 



16 



Committee, January 13th, 1826, it was voted, that the school 
instituted for the instruction of the female children of the 
city in the higher departments of literature and science 
should be called the High School for girls. 

This was the school referred to by Mr. Stevenson in his 
report of 1853, in School Committee, which he says "was 
established in 1826, and discontinued in 1828, for reasons 
which would now operate with increased force." 

Your Committee therefore beg to direct attention to these 
reasons, assigned for the discontinuance of that school ; in 
order to ascertain, whether or not they would now operate 
with increased force against the establishment at the pres- 
ent time of a High School for girls. 

In the year 1826, during the existence of the High School 
for girls, the City of Boston appropriated, for all its annual 
educational purposes, between fifty and sixty thousand dol- 
lars ; and, apart from the demand w^hich would necessarily 
be made for additional appropriation for the maintenance and 
support of said school, the only reasons which your Com- 
mittee have been able to find, as tending to militate in the 
least degree against the further continuance- of said school, 
and the only one ever relied upon by its opponents, are sug- 
gested in a letter addressed to the teachers of the Grammar 
Schools, by the Honorable Josiah Quincy, then Mayor of 
Boston, and Ex-Officio Chairman of the School Committee, 
which letter was as follows : — 



Mayor's Office, Oct. 16, 1826. 
Gentlemen : — 

Su£:i2:estions havino^ been made, that the effect of the Hiofh 
School for girls has been disadvantageous upon the character 
and prospects of the other schools of the metropolis, — 

1. By diminishing the zeal of the generality of the other 
females in these schools. 



17 



2. By taking away from them their most exemplary 
scholars. 

3. By disqualifying the masters from a gradual introduc- 
tion into those schools of the monitorial system, by thus re- 
moving from them the class of females best qualified to 
become monitors. 

4. By reducing the other schools from the highest to 
secondary grade, by early depriving them of those scholars 
in whom they have the greatest pride, and who are of the 
highest promise. 

I am directed by the School Committee to inquire, 
whether, as far as your experience extends, there is any 
foundation for these suggestions ; and if not, then whether 
any and what effect has been produced by the establishment 
of the High School for girls, on the character and prospects 
of your schools. 

No further appropriation was ever made, and the High 
School for girls ceased to exist, for reasons, which Mr. Ste- 
venson says, in his report before alluded to, would now 
operate with increased force. 

The only real obstacle in the way of a High School for 
girls, at the time of its first establishment, was, as has been 
before observed, the same as at the present time, the 
expense. 

If the effect of establishing a High School for girls would, 
for the reasons assigned, be so disastrous to the Grammar 
Schools, why, it would seem just to inquire, does not the 
same reasoning apply to the Grammar Schools, m their effect 
upon the Primary Schools? 

Believing then, as do your Committee, that the prosperity 
of Boston is owing, in a large degree, to the past and present 
liberality of her citizens in the cause of education, they con- 
fidently trust that the recommendations in the above report 
may be adopted, and that the present system of Public In- 
struction in this city may be rendered symmetrical and com- 

3 



18 



plete in all its proportions by the establishment of a High 
School for girls. 

Your Committee, therefore, recommend the passage of the 
appended resolve. 

For the Committee, 

CALVm p. HINDS, 

Chairman. 

Hesolved, That the foregoing report be submitted to the 
City Council, with the recommendation that the whole sub- 
ject be referred to the School Committee for further consid- 
eration. 

Passed by Common Council, May 25, 1854. 

The foregoing is from the" report of one of the two Sub- 
Committees appointed by the Joint Standing Committee on 
Public Instruction, Feb. 16, 1854. 

The report of the other Sub-Committee (City Document 
No. 44, 1854) is signed by Alderman Josiah Dunham, jr., 
as Chairman, and concludes with the following resolves : — 

Hesolved, That in the opinion of the City Council, it is 
expedient that four High Schools for girls should be estab- 
lished in the City of Boston. 

Resolved, That whenever the School Committee shall estab- 
lish four High Schools for girls, it will be the duty of the 
City Council to provide suitable and proper accommodations 
for them, at the northern and southern sections of the city, 
and at South Boston and East Boston, in conformity with 
the plan submitted in the foregoing rej)ort. 

These two reports came before the Board of Aldermen. 
The following, from the Kecords of the City Clerk, shows 
the action of the City Council : — 



19 



EXTRACT FROM RECORDS OF BOARD OF 
ALDERMEN, MxVY 29, 1854. 

The Common Council having amended the resolves which 
this Board attached to the Report of the Committee on Pub- 
lic Instruction, which recommends the establishment of four 
High Schools for girls, by striking out all after the word 
" That^'' and inserting as follows : — 

" The foregoing report be transmitted to the School Com- 
mittee as an expression of the opinion of the City Council of 
Boston in favor of the establishment of a system of High 
School instruction for girls within said city." 

Came up for concurrence. 

Read and concurred. 



{From City Document No. 80, 1854.] 

REPORT ON A HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. 
In School Com^iittee, November 14, 1854. 

The Special Committee to whom was referred the resolves 
sent to this Board by the City Council, advising the estab- 
lishment of a High School for girls, respectfully 

REPORT. 

Your Committee have given the subject referred to them 
the careful consideration which its importance and the strong 
recommendation of both branches of the City Council 
demanded. 

We think that a. favorable opportunity is offered to try the 
experiment of this school, at a small expense. On consulta- 
tion with the Sub-Committee of the Normal School, we are 
informed that if the Model School be removed from the 
building in Mason Street, there would be seats, in the rooms 
thus vacated, for at least one hundred and twenty pupils. 



20 



We suppose, too, that the City Library will, probably, be 
accommodated elsewhere before long, and in that event 
there would be room for double the above-named number of 
pupils, or even more. 

We advise, therefore, that the High School for girls should 
be placed in that building, and under the charge of the Sub- 
Committee of the Normal School, which could be enlarged, 
if deemed expedient, by the addition of two or more 
members. 

We would also recommend that the admission to the 
school, if established, should be under similar regulations 
to those now in force at the Normal School, and that an 
examination should be had in the studies required to be 
taught in the Grammar Schools. 

We, therefore, respectfully submit the accompanying 
orders. 

For the Committee, 

JOHN LOWELL, 

Chairman, 

Ordered, That it is expedient to organize a High School 
for girls, in compliance with the foregoing recommendations. 

Ordered, That a Committee be appointed, consisting of 
the Normal School Committee and four others, to organize 
a High School for girls, substantially in accordance with the 
foregoing report; and to submit their plan, for approval, to 
this Board, and at an early meeting of the Board. 

The foregoing orders were adopted, and to the Normal 
School Committee,- consisting of Messrs. Russell, Thorn- 
dike and Norcross, Messrs. Lowell, Parks, Randall and 
Skinner were added. 

Attest : BARNARD CAPEN, 

Secretary, 
November 14, 1854. 



21 



FINAL COMMUNICATION OF SCHOOL BOARD TO 
CITY COUNCIL, IN REGARD TO A HIGH SCHOOL 
FOR GIRLS. 

The foregoing Report, dated Nov. 14, 1854, was followed 

by another, Nov. 28, from a Special Committee of the School 

Board, appointed to report a plan for the organization of a 

High School for girls, as follows : — 

Ordered, That the foregoing Report be accepted, and that 
the plan therein recommended be adopted as the organization 
of the Hioh School for fifirls, when established. 

Ordered, That the Chairman be requested to transmit to 
the City Council the foregoing Reports with the request that 
they pass the necessary votes to carry the same into effect. 

Read, accepted, and the orders passed. 

Attest : BARNARD CAPEN, 

Secretary. 
Nov. 28, 1854. 

These orders were referred by the City Council to the 
Committee on Public Instruction. They do not appear to 
have been reported upon by that Committee, and consequently 
were never acted upon by the City Council. 

From that date to the present, no communication seems to 
have been sent to the City Council by the School Committee, 
on the subject of a High School for girls. 

\_From City Document No. 67, 1855.] 

SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT ON THE SUB- 
JECT OF HIGH SCHOOL INSTRUCTION FOR 
GIRLS, 1855. 

In Board of Aldermen, June 25, 1855. 
Resolved, That, in the opinion of the City Council, it is 
expedient that ample provision should be made for giving an 



22 



extensive and thorough course of High School instruction to 
all girls in the different sections of the city, who are qualified 
to enter upon the study of the higher branches of education. 

Resolved, That the School Committee be desired to con- 
sider the expediency of establishing High School classes in 
the different sections of the city. 

Ordered, That a copy of the above be sent to the School 
Committee. 

Passed : sent down for concurrence. 

WILLIAM WASHBURN, 

Gliairman, 

In Common Council, June 28, 1855. 
Concurred ; 

JOSEPH STOEY, 

President, 

June 29, 1855. 
Approved : 

J. V. C. SMITH, 

Mayor. 

A true copy, Attest : 

SAM'L F. McCLEARY, 

City Clerk. 

[Extracts from Report.'] 

The Special Committee to whom was referred a resolve 
of the City Council in relation to the expediency of making 
provision for giving a course of High School instruction to 
girls ; and desiring the School Committee to consider the 
expediency of establishing High School classes in the differ- 
ent sections of city, respectfully 

REPORT: 

That, after a careful consideration of the subject, they find 
no reason to recommend any further action than the Board 



23 



has already taken in reference to a High School for girls, or 
to High School classes. 

The experiment of establishing a large High School for 
girls, which had been made some 3^ears before, had proved 
nnsuccesstul, owing to various causes which it is not neces- 
sary at this time to recapitulate. It seemed, however, to the 
Board that the time had now^ arrived w^hen a new efiort 
should be made in this direction. With this view the Nor- 
mal School w\'is established. Its im'mediate object was to 
educate teachers for the Primary and Grammar Schools of 
the city ; but as it at the same time adopted a more extended 
course of studv, and afforded a hio:her kind of instruction 
than had been attainable at the Grammar Schools, it in some 
degree supplied the place of a High School for girls. 

All that'w^as necessary to constitute it a High School, in 
fact, was the introduction of a few^ additional branches of 
study, and a slight alteration in the arrangement of the 
course. 

These changes were made by the Board of last year. The 
school is now called the Girls' High and Normal School. 

Your Committee therefore believe that no further action 
by the Board is necessary at the present time, on the sub- 
ject of High School instruction for girls. 
For the Committee, 

Le baron RUSSELL, 

Chairman. 
December, 1855. 

This report was not sent to the City Council. 

Re^iaeks. — From the second part of the foregoing report 
it appears that in the long and able discussions respecting a 
Girl's High School, nothing w^as said which showed any 
want of confidence in the Normal School, or any desire to 
discontinue the same. 



24 

And the two courses were finally united by the School 
Board. 

It does not appear that the City Council (excepting the 
school established in 1826 and continued two years) has ever 
established a Girls' High School. If all the orders which 
were sent by the Council to the School Board, during a series 
of years, respecting the establishment of such schools, were 
adopted, then the city must have a great number of such 
High Schools for girls. But the facts are as follows : — 

The School Committee having arranged a course of com- 
bined High School and Normal study, and prepared the 
requisite regulations for the school, sent the following order 
to the City Council : — 

"November 28, 1854. 

" Ordered y That the Chairman be requested to transmit to 
the City Council, the foregoing reports, with the request 
that they pass the necessary votes to carry the same into 
effect." 

The City Council took no action upon this order ; but 
subsequently, June 29, 1855, sent the following to the 
School Board : — 

" Resolved, That the School Committee be desired to 
consider the expediency of establishing High School classes 
in the different sections of the city." 

The School Committee decide [see Report of Le Baron 
Russell, Chairman., on a previous page of this report], that 
havinof introduced Hiiih School studies into the Normal 
School, there was no occasion for any further action. 

Here the matter has rested until the present time. Bos- 
ton has no Girls' High School established according to the 
statutes and laws of the Commonwealth. In fact, we have 



25 



such a school, fully organized, and l^oth an honor and a 
blessmg to the city. 

So far as the Records show, the term High School and 
Normal School seems to have come into use by common 
consent, and not by any enactment. 

III. 

SEPARATION OF THE GIRLS' -HIGH AND NORMAL 
SCHOOL INTO TWO SCHOOLS, THE GIRLS' HIGH 
SCHOOL, AND THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

For many years it had been evident that the Normal 
element in the school had become wholly secondary, and 
that additional means must be taken to secure a sufficient 
number of properly qualified teachers to fill the vacancies 
constantly occurring in our schools, and this from no fault 
of the teachers or members of the Board in charsre of the 
school. It was inevitable in the very nature of the case» 
The course of instruction and the plan of work are such in a 
Normal School that it cannot be most successful in connec- 
tion with reo'ular Hiofh-School work. 

In 1870, a division of the school was recommended, and 
the restoration of the Normal School to its original standing, 
as a school for preparing teachers for the Boston Public 
Schools. 

{Extracts from Report of Sub- Committee.'] 

.In School Committee, April 11, 1871. 

The Committe'e on the Girls' High and Normal School have 
given careful consideration to the subject of establishing a 
liseparate Normal School, which was referred to them in 
January, 1870, by this Board. 

This school was established in 1852, as a Normal School. 



26 

Its design was to educate young ladies to become teachers. 
The course of study was large and liberal, embracing the 
branches usually taught in High Schools ; and with this 
thorough mental culture was joined such special instruction 
as ever}^ teacher requires to fit her for her work, accompanied 
by practice in a model school. This is not a High School to 
which a Training Department has been added, but a Normal 
School, admitting pupils who do not propose to teach, and 
who desire to avail themselves of the opportunity of obtain- 
ing a good education. But the High School has gradually 
gained an ascendancy over the Normal element until the 
actual preparation for the work of teaching has come to be 
restricted to the Training Department ; and that branch, 
since it has been under the same roof with the rest of the 
school, has almost lost its independent, distinctive and pro- 
fessional character. 

In order to secure to our city a strictly Normal School, it 
appears to your Committee that one of two courses must be 
adopted. We may restore this school to its original condi- 
tion, or we may separate the Normal from the High School. 

If the first plan be adopted, experience teaches us that the 
Normal element will gradually be absorbed and cease to exist. 

Your Committee, accordingly, recommend, in place of the 
Training Department, the establishment of a Girls' Normal 
School for the City of Boston, to be distinct from the Girls' 
High School, and under a separate head, and that both 
schools be under the supervision of the same committee. 

They also recommend that graduates of the High School 
for girls, having completed the three years' course, and 
others who by examination are found to have received an 
education equivalent to that given in our High School, be 
admitted as pupils in the Normal School ; that the course of 



27 



study occupy one year, and that diplomas of graduation be 
given to those who, at the end of the year, are found quali- 
fied to become teachers. 

Respectfully submitted for the Committee. 

HENRY BURROUGHS, 

Chairman. 



In SCH09L Co:m]mittee, 

Boston, March 12, 1872. 

1. Ordered, That the Committee on the subject of a dis- 
tinct Normal School be and hereby are authorized to report 
to this Board a plan for the organization of a Normal School 
in the City of Boston, which school shall be established and 
go into operation at the beginning of the next school year. 

On the 14th of May, 1872, the same Committee submitted 
a plan lor a "distinct Normal School," which was unanimously 
adopted by the School Committee. It is provided, among 
other things, that " the school shall be known as the Boston 
Normal School, and its purpose shall be to furnish an oppor- 
tunity for such young women as wish to become teachers, a 
course of distinct professional study." 

On the 11th of June, 1872, the rules and regulations were 
amended by striking from the organization and management 
of the Girls' High and Normal School all that pertained in 
any way ih the Normal department. 

At an adjourned meeting of the School Committee, July 
2, 1872, Mr. Larkin Dunton was appointed Head Master of 
the Normal School. 



In School Committee, Feb. 11, 1873. 

Ordered, That the Normal School be transferred from the 
building of the Girls' High School to rooms in the Appleton- 
street Primary School building. 



28 

Referred to the Committee on the Normal School, the Eice 
School District, and Drawing, to report at the next meeting 
of the Board. 



In School Committee, March 11, 1873. 

Ordered, That the Normal School be transferred from the 
building of the Girls' High School, to the two unoccupied 
rooms in the Appleton-street Primary School building. Rice 
District, with the joint occupancy of the hall in such way as 
shall not interfere w^ith the use of the same by the classes in 
drawing ; the permission not to prevent the occupancy of the 
entire building by the Primary School, Avhenever the number 
of pupils in the district shall require it. 

Ordered, That the City Council be requested to furnish 
the rooms for the use of the Normal School. 

Both of the orders were referred to the City Council. 

action of city council. 
Ordered, That the Committee on Public Buildings be 
authorized to provide suitable accommodations for the Nor- 
mal School, recently established by the School Committee, 
in the Girls' High and Normal School building on Newton 
street ; the expense to be charged to the appropriation for 
School-houses, Public Buildings. 

In Boaed of Aldeemen, Sept. 23, 1872. 
Read twice and passed : sent down for concurrence. 

S. LITTLE, 

Chairman, 

In Common Council, Sept 26, 1872. 
Concurred. 

M. F. DICKINSON, Je., 

JPresident. 

Approved, Sept. 27, 1872. 

WM. GASTON, 

Mayor. 



29 

IV. 
MESSAGE OF MAYOR PIERCE. 

The following City Document (No. 65, 1873), although it 
has not been transmitted to the School Committee, and that 
Board are not supposed to have knowledge of its issue, has 
come into the hand of the Chairman of the Committee charged 
with the preparation of this Report, and as it contains sug- 
gestions respecting the Normal School,, it is printed in this 
connection. 

City of Boston. 

In School Committee, March 11, 1873. 

Ordered^ That the City Council be requested to furnish the 

rooms for the use of the Normal School. 

Attest : 

BARNARD CAPEN, 

Secretary. 

In Common Council, March 13, 1873. 
Referred to the Committee on Public Instruction. 
Sent up for concurrence. 

E. O. SHEPARD, 

President, 

In Board of Aldermen, March 17, 1873. 

Concurred. 

L. R. CUTTER, 

Chairman. 



30 



In Common Council, March 27, 1873. 

The Committee on Public Instruction, to whom was re- 
ferred the request of the School Committee that the City 
Council would furnish the unoccupied rooms in the Primary 
School-house on Appleton street for the use of the Normal 
School, having considered the subject, would respectfully 
recommend the passage of the accompanying order. 
For the Committee, 

THOMAS GAFFIELD, 

Chairman, 

Ordered^ That the Committee on Public Buildings be 
authorized to furnish the unoccupied rooms in the Primary 
School-house on Appleton street, for the use of the Normal 
School ; the expense to be charged to the appropriation for 
School-houses, Public Buildings. 



In Common Council, April 4, 1873. 

Passed. 

Sent up for concurrence. 

E. O. SHEPAED, 

President, 

In Board of Aldermen, April 7, 1873. 

Concurred. 

L. E. CUTTEE, 

Chairman, 

In Board of Aldermen, April 14, 1873. 
The foregoing vote was reconsidered and the subject as- 
signed to Monday next. 

In Board of Aldermen, April 21, 1873. 
The foregoing order was again read and passed in concur- 
rence. 

L. E. CUTTEE, 

Chairman, 



31 

Executive Department, City Hall, 

Boston, May 1, 1873. 

To the Honor able the Common Council of the City of 
Boston : — 

Gentlemen, — I return herewith to the branch of the 
City Council in which it originated, an order to provide ac- 
commodation in the Primary school-house on Appleton street 
for the Normal School {a.) recently established by the School 
Committee, and I beg leave to state briefly the reasons which 
have compelled me to withhold my approval. 

(h.) Previous to 1857 it was not legal for any city or 
town in this Commonwealth to establish public schools for 
the education of children over fifteen years of age. In that 
year an act was passed (since incorporated into the General 
Statutes, sec. 7, chap. 38), authorizing the establishment and 
support of such schools. Although the School Committee 
have the superintendence of these schools, when established, 
and are authorized to determine what branches of learninof 
may be taught therein, the City Councils of cities, and the 
inhabitants of to\.vns acting in town meeting, alone have" au- 
thority to establish the schools, and "may determine the 
term or terms of time in each year and the hours of day or 
evening during which said schools shall be kept, and appro- 
priate such sums of money as may be necessary for the sup- 
port thereof." 

The fact that a Normal School, as it was termed, was in 
existence, as a part of our school system, before the year 
1857, does not alter the legal aspect of the case. It is suffi- 
cient (c.) that the'Cit}^ Council, after the authority was 
granted, established' a "Girls' High and Normal School," at 
which a course of instruction was adopted, not only to 
qualify the graduates to become teachers, if they chose to 
adopt that profession, but to give all the pupils, whether 
they desired to be teachers or not, a complete and thorough 



32 



education. This school, having outgrown the contracted 
quarters where it was first located, was established by the 
City Council in 1871 in a building specially erected for the 
purpose on Newton street, at an expense of $310,715. 

In 1870 the School Committee recommended a division of 
the schools and the establishment of a " distinct Normal 
School,'' devoted exclusively to the education of teachers, 
and on the 8th of January, 1872, a committee of seven was 
appointed by the School Committee to report upon a plan 
for a " distinct Normal School." On the 12th of March, 1872, 
that committee submitted the following orders, which were 
adopted : — 

' First : " That the committee on the subject of a distinct 
Normal School be and hereby are authorized to report to this 
Board a plan for the organization of a Normal School in the 
Cit}^ of Boston, which school shall be established and go 
into operation at the beginning of the next school year." 

Second : " That the same committee be authorized to 'se- 
cure for the accommodation of said Normal School the rooms 
now unoccupied in the Appleton-street School-house." 

On the 14th of May the same committee submitted a plan 
for a "distinct Normal School," which was adopted by the 
School Committee. It is provided, among other things, that 
" the school shall be known as the Boston Normal School, 
and its purpose shall be to furnish an opportunity for such 
young women, as wish to become teachers, to receive a 
course of distinct professional study. 

"The teachers shall be a head-master and such assistants 
as may be found necessary. 

{cc.) "Candidates for admission must signif(/ in writing 
(heir intention to teach. 

"A diploma from eitlier of the High Schools shall be con- 
sidered evidence of qualification for admission." 

On the 11th of June, 1872, the rules and regulations were 
amended bv strikin^^ from the oro^anization and management 



33 



of the Girls' High and Normal School all that pertained in 
any way to the Normal department. The training schools 
which had been located in this bnilding were discontinned, 
and the pupils distributed into other schools. 

It will be observed, from this hasty review, that the new 
school is expressly stated to be a distinct Normal School, (d.) 
It is a school above and beyond the High Schools already 
authorized by the City Council, and it appears in the Manual, 
published for 1873, as a distinct and independent organization. 

It is questionable w^hether such a school as this can be 
established at all at the public expense, and it is clear that it 
cannnot be established without the previous consent of the 
City Council. That consent has not been given, (e.) If it be 
said that the school originally established by the City Couucil 
was denominated a Normal School, with aims and purposes 
similar to those possessed by the new^ organization, the legal 
objection to the action of the School Committee still remains, 
as that body has not the authority to establish another such 
school. 

These are the objections which have made it my duty to 
return the order to your honorable body for further consider- 
ation ; but I cannot forbear calling your attention to the 
expense involved in carrying out the policy inaugurated by 
the School Committee, (f.) It appears, from the last semi- 
annual report of the Superintendent of Schools, that the 
average number of pupils connected with the new Normal 
School is fifty-three, and the average daily attendance forty- 
eight, (g.) The head-master of the school receives a salary 
of $4,000 per annum, and the four assistants receive 
$4,500, making the salaries of the teachers to these forty-eight 
pupils, $8,500 per annum, (h.) The building erected on 
Newton street was extended to accommodate 1,200 pupils. 
The Hiofh School for sfirls contained in March last 632 
pupils. The new Normal School is accommodated at the 
present time in one room of the building ; so that, making 



34 



allowance for the accon^modation required for the botanical 
and other departments, there remain several rooms unoccupied 
by any teachers or scholars. 

If it is necessary to introduce primary classes for the prac- 
tice of the Normal pupils, there are, I believe, suitable facili- 
ties for so doir/g. The estimated expense of providing 
separate accommodations for the new school is $2,000, but it 
is evident that the portion of the Primary-school building 
"which it is proposed to occupy at this tinie will be needed in 
a veiy short time for its legitimate purposes, and the govern- 
ment will then be called upon to provide a new building for 
the Normal School. 

I submit herewith the opinion of the City Solicitor upon 
the legal aspect of the case. 

HENRY L. PIERCE, Mayor, 

(^iTY Solicitor's Office, 2 Pemberton Square, 

Boston, April 28, 1873. 

Sir : — To the question you proposed to me in regard to the 
legality of the action of the School Committee in establishing 
a Normal School, I reply that I find no authority for the estab- 
lishment or maintenance of such a school by them. The 
committee can expend the moneys raised for the support of 
schools only for the support of schools of the descriptions 
which the statutes of the Commonwealth require or authorize 
to be maintained, and Normal Schools are not of that number. 
I am, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

J. P. HEALY. 
Hon. Henry L. Pierce, Mayor, etc. 



m 



35 

REMARKS ON THE MAYOR'S MESSAGE. 

(a.) This school was recently organized as a separate 
school, but not recently established. It was established in 
1852. 

(6.) Previous to 1857, as since, it was legal for cities 
and towns to establish public schools for the education 
of children of all ages, from five to tioenty-one. In 1857 
it was enacted (for purposes of evening schools), that in 
certain cases, children under fifteen years of age might be 
excluded. 

(c.) The City Records do not show that the City Council 
has ever established a Girls' High and Normal School, or 
any High School for girls, except in 1826, Avhich was 
disbanded in tico years. The only school for girls, beyond 
the Grammar School, established since that date by the 
City Council, is the Normal School, established in 1852, 
for the preparation of teachers .for the pul)lic schools of 
Boston . 

{cc.) This requirement does not affect the legal basis 
of the school ; it was not in the original organization, and 
may be changed, at any time, by the School Board. 

(c?.) This statement covers the whole case. The School 
Committee, in 1870, did recommend " a division of the 
school.'' Having allowed the Normal School, established by 
the City Council in 1852, and a High-School course to come 
together, and to ' be called the " Girls' High and Normal 
School," the same Board took measures for their separation. 
The union was allowed by the School Committee, and their 
separation was eflTected by the same Board. 



36 



(e.) It is evident from the whole teuor of the Message 
of His Honor the Mayor, and the opinion of the City 
Solicitor, that both have regarded the Normal School as 
having been established in 1872, — one year ago, — and by 
the School Board ; whereas the fact is, that it was estab- 
lished twenty-one years ago, and by the City Council, on 
the recommendation of the School Board. 

(/*.) The number of pupils belonging to the school at 
the time the Message was written, was sixty-Jive. Whole 
number of pupils, seventy. 

(g.) The amount of salar}^ paid to all the teachers of the 
school for the entire year, closing August 31, 1873, is 
$7,700 ; and this amount is larger than it would have been, 
but for the fact that all the teachers of the Girls High 
and Normal School were re-elected ; all those of the Train- 
ing School, or Normal Department, being assigned to the 
Normal School. If the salary ($700) of one teacher, 
whose services have been wholly devoted to various Primary 
Schools in the city, were subtracted, the total salary would 
be but $7,000. 

(7i.) The new building, exclusive of the basement and 
room for drawing, has seats for eight hundred and eighty 
pupils. All these rooms have been occupied during the 
entire year. The desire, however, for a transfer of the 
Normal School to other quarters, did not arise from want of 
room in the Newton-street building, nor from any want of 
harmony between the two schools. The relations of the 
head-masters and of all the teachers could not have been 
pleasanter. The reason for desiring a location in connection 
with a Primary or Grammar School will appear from the 



37 



following extract from the recent Quarterly Report on the 
Normal School, submitted June 8th : — 

\Extractfro'm Beport.'] 

It was ho]3ed that before this time accommodations would 
be provided for the school, in comiection with some fully 
organized Primary or Grammar School, in order that the 
pupils might have an opportunity t(/ witness, sj^stematically, 
the best methods of instruction and discipline, the assign- 
ment of lessons, the means employed to secure good order 
and good lessons, and, not less important, the motives pre- 
sented in cultivating the moral sentiments, and securing the 
best results without constant appeal to physical force. This 
observation should not be miscellaneous and desultory, but 
consecutive, and according to a plan, so that young ladies, 
in taking independent charge of a school or a room, would 
enter upon their duties with a wise confidence, inspired not 
only by a theoretical discussion of methods of instruction, 
but by an acquaintance from observation as well, with a real 
Boston school, and with the peculiarities of the Boston 
school system. 

The only remaining thought in the message, which the 
Committee desire to consider, is the authority of the City 
Council, in 1852, to establish such a school for the training 
of teachers for the public schools of Boston. 

His Honor the Mayor says : — 

"It is questionable whether such a school as this can be 
established at all at the public expense." 

The City Solicitor says : — 

"The Committee can expend the money raised for the 



38 

support of schools, only for the support of schools of the 
descriptions which the statutes of the Commonwealth re- 
quire or authorize to be maintained, and Normal Schools are 
not of that number." 

It is also suggested that this school is sl professional school 
in the same sense as a Law School, and cannot be supported 
at the public charge. 

Any doubt concerning the authority of the City Council 
to establish this school is removed by tlte Decisions of the 
Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Some have supposed — 
and the City Solicitor seems to rest his conclusion upon the 
same ground — that towns and cities can support only such 
schools as are specified in the Statutes. The Supreme 
Court, although ruling upon individual cases, has taken 
pains to state, very fully and clearly, on general principles, 
the rio'hts of towns and cities to decide for themselves, 
Avhat grades of schools, and how many, they will support. 
In other words, the law fixes the minimum of education, 
and prescribes what must be furnished, under penaltj' of 
fine, but does 7iot limit. It also gives power to the School 
Committee to classify pupils in schools, as they shall deem 

best. 

{Extracts from Supreme Court Decisions J] 

" The establishment of schools for the education, to some 
extent at least, of all the children of the whole people, is 
not the result of any recent enactment ; it is not the growth 
even of our present constitutional government, but extends 
back two hundred years, to the early settlement of the 
Colony." . . . .' 

" The question is, whether the description of schools which 
towns shall be required to maintain, is a description of 



39 

schools, which alone towns in their corporate capacity have 
power to support at the common expense. The affirma- 
tion of this proposition cannot be maintained." .... 

" On the whole, the Court are of opinion, that the pro- 
vision of the revised statutes, which provides the small 
amount of schooling which towns are compelled to provide 
for under a penalty, is not a definition or limit of the public 
schools which they have the authority to provide for by tax- 
ation ; but that the provision is to' be taken in connection 
with the broader power given to towns to grant and vote 
money, as they shall judge necessary, for the support of 
schools, and also with the whole course of policy and of 
legislation on the same subject." — Chief Justice Shaw in 
Cushing vs. JS^ewburyjport, 10 Metcalfe 508. 

" The law fixes the smallest amount of instruction to be 
provided by towns, leaving with towns the right to provide 
such further amount as they may deem proper." — Batchel- 
der vs. (7^7y of Salem, 4 Cushing, 603. 

" The power of general superintendence vests a plenary 
authorit}^ in the committee to arrange, classify, and distribute 
pupils, in such a manner as they think best adapted to their 
general proficiency and welfare." — Chiif Justice Shaw in 
Roberts vs. City of Boston, 5 Cushing, 208. 



The foregoing decisions are conclusive, and yet without 
them the question would be settled as well on general prin- 
ciples. 

The duty of educating is made obligatory upon towns and 
cities, not upon the State. Towns can build school-houses ; 
the State cannot without special permissive legislation. 
ToAvns can organize and classify and locate any number of 
schools, prescribe the course of study, the hours, the text- 



40 



books, number of teachers, their wages and terms of service ; 
the State can do nothing of this kind. The only power on 
earth that can establish a Primary, Grammar, High, or Nor- 
mal School in the City of Boston, for the benefit of the city 
itself, is the City of Boston. The State cannot do it. The 
Congress of the United States cannot do it. 

By special legislation, the State has established a few 
State Normal Schools upon which towns may draw for 
teachers. Supposing the State had not established these 
schools, where could a town look for its teachers but 
to itself? The statutes compel towns to support schools. 
This very compulsion presumes that, in doing this, the 
towns will provide both school-houses and teachers. But 
where shall a town obtain thoroughly qualified teachers? 
Who shall give them the special preparation for so re- 
sponsible a work? Not the State; not some other town; 
not some private school or seminary ; the statutes do not 
know any such institutions. The town itself, being under 
obligation to provide schools for all the children, must see 
that suitable provision is made for an adequate supply of 
teachers, — adequate, not in numbers only, but in quality 
and fitness, as well. 

The century has gone past when it would be deemed nec- 
essary, in any intelligent community in this cou'ntry, to 
debate the necessity for special instruction and discipline, on 
the part of those who are to be the educators of our children. 
The Committee will not presume upon the intelligence of the 
school board of the City of Boston by any such discussion. 



41 

THE BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL NOT A PROFESSIONAL 
SCHOOL IN THE SAME SENSE THAT A LAW SCHOOL 
IS A PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL. 

The suggestion sometimes heard, that this school has any- 
thing in common, in its legal basis, with a Medical school, or 
a Law school, can hardly have been made upon reflection. 
A young man enters a Law school for his own personal 
ends. He pursues his studies, pays his bills, graduates, 
hires an office, puts out a sign, and waits for clients. His 
fees may be small or large. No one fixes his income and 
limits it by rule. He is not educated for the public service ; 
he does not enter the public service. No committee, acting 
for the public interest, discharges him from his position, or 
transfers him from one field to another as the public good 
may demand. 

On the other hand, the whole object of this Normal School, 
so far as the city is concerned, is the preparation of an ade- 
quate number of teachers for the public schools of Boston. 
They are educated solely and AvhoUy for the public good, 
and are just as much a part of the public interest as are the 
Primary or Grammar Schools themselves. 

If, however, the city, in educating these young ladies for 
the public service, fits them for such positions in the educa- 
tional field as shall be pecuniarily to their advantage, no 
one will object. We educate them for the sake of the 
schools, for the sake of the hundreds and thousands of chil- 
dren, who look t6 us for the best possible education that can 
be given them, during the years devoted to school life ; for 
the sake of the good name of Boston ; for the State ; for citi- 
zenship in the Republic. If, in addition to this direct and 



42 



public beoefit, from fifty to one hundred and fifty young 
ladies, daughters of our citizens, can be made able to take 
honorable positions and to receive a liberal compensation, so 
that they may be able to support themselves and have a little 
with which to do for kindred who may be dependent upon 
them, let us not grudge, but rather thank God that his provi- 
dence is so varied and so comprehensive. 

V- ' 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The order under which this report is presented, directs 
the Committee to " report such recommendations as may seem 
wise, for the future action of this Board, respecting the 
Normal School." 

The Committee would recommend, — 

1. That the Normal School be continued under its present 
organization, as a distinct school, with such regulations and 
courses of study as this Board shall prescribe. 

2. That as early as practicable, the Board seek, through 
the City Council, accommodations for the school, in con- 
nection with some Grammar or Primary School, in order 
that the Normal pupils may have an opportunity to witness 
the methods of instruction and discipline in a regularly organ- 
ized school, and that they may become acquainted with both 
the general and the special features of the Boston school 
system. 

OPINIOJs^S OF DISTINGUISHED EDUCATORS. 

The following correspondence, bearing directly upon the 
foregoing suggestions, confirms the Committee in their judg- 



43 



ment as to the wisdom of these recommendations. The 
replies are all from men of large and varied experience and 
observation. 

Boston, May 17, 1873. 
Deak Sir, — 

Will you have the kindness to answer, very briefly, the 
following questions : — 

1. What special provision does' your city make for the 
education of teachers, or of those who purpose to become 
such ? 

2. Have you a class in your High School, in which pro- 
fessional instruction is give.n, or have you a separate school? 

3. Have your Normal pupils any facilities for observing 
methods of instruction in the various grades of your school ? 

4. Which, in your judgment, is best, — to have the 
Normal class a part of the High School, or to make it a 
distinct school ? 

5. Do you deem a Normal School, in some form, essential 
to the highest prosperity of your schools? This subject 
especially interests our own city just now. 

I write you as Chairman of the Committee on the Boston 
Normal School, and in the interests of education in our city. 
With thanks, in advance, for the favor w4iich I ask, 
I am. 

Very sincerely yours, 

CHARLES HUTCHINS. 

From the Chairman of the School Committee, Springfield, 

Mass. : — 

Springfield, Mass., May 24th, 1873. 

Mr. Charles Hutchins : — 

Dear Sir, — In reply to your inquiries, I would say, — 
We have a Training School of four schools and six 

teachers. 



44 



No such class in the High School. 

No ; only in those four schools, and they are too nearly of 
the same grade. 

We deem a Normal School desirable in cities and all large 
towns ; and with us it is necessary to provide ourselves with 
teachers. The State Normal Schools do not furnish enough, 
and the competition to secure them is great. We would 
encourage our own 3'oung people to qualify themselves for 
teaching. 

After conferring with Rev. Mr. Rice — who has long been 
a member of our Committee, and is a member of the State 
Board of Education — I return you these answers to your 
inquiries. 

Yours very truly, 

S. G. BUCKINGHAM. 

New Bedford, Mass., June 1, 1873. 
Dear Mr. Hutchins : — 

A simple account of our Training School, which has been 
in existence for two years, will answer directly the most of 
your inquiries. 

We instituted our Training School by taking a graded 
Primary School, which occupied a building consisting of five 
rooms, and making it the practice school of the Training 
School, to whose especial purposes we devoted one of the 
five rooms. 

We have no teachers' class in the High School. But we 
require such graduates of the High School as desire to 
become teachers in our service to spend at least one year in 
the Training School. 

The union of the Training School with a regularly organ- 
ized public school is one of the prime sources of the abun- 
dant success which has attended it. 

We once had the Normal class as a part of the High School ; 
it was, in the main, a failure. 



45 



A Normal School is absolutely iiulispeiisable to the highest 
prosperity of a system of schools. We find it so. 

Yours truly, 

H. F. HARRINGTON, 

Su;perintendent of Schools, 

Worcester, Mass., May 22, 1873. 
Charles Hutchins, Esq., 

Ch'^n Com. on Normal School, Boston : — 

Dear Sir, — 

For the education of teachers we have, besides the other 
public schools, what is called the Normal and Training 
School. 

For several years before the opening of the school, there 
was a class in the High School, called the Normal Class, 
designed for the preparation of teachers. 

The Normal and Training School was organized in the 
year 1867, to take the place of the Normal Class in the High 
School — more effectually to do its work. 

The Normal- pupils are not only instructed in methods of 
teaching, but they are required also to observe the teaching, 
and practise teaching themselves, in the several grades of 
school. 

From the trial of both, in this city, I am decidedly of 
opinion that a separate Normal School is far preferable to a 
Normal class in the High School. 

I think a good Normal School is indispensable to the pros- 
perity of the public schools ; for teachers must either learn 
correct methods of teaching before they become responsible 
for a school, or they must experiment with pupils before they 
can secure good systems of teaching and healthy discipline. 

From an experience of five years in this kind of Normal 



46 



School, noticing its effect upon young teachers and upon the 
schools, I am very positive in my approbation of Normal 
School instruction. 

I am very truly yours, 

A. P. MARBLE, 

8up't Schools. 
Cambridge, Mass., May 23, 1873. 

Charles PIutchins, Esq. : — 

Dear Sir, — We have a Normal or Training School in 
which teachers are prepared for their work. 

We have no class in our High School in which profes- 
sional instruction is given, but we have a separate school in 
connection with a Primary School, where instruction in 
methods can be united with actual practice. 

I am decidedly of the opinion that the Normal School 
should have no connection with the High School, but that it 
should be a distinct school. 

I do feel that a Normal School in some form is absolutely 
essential to secure the highest prosperity of our schools. I 
have seen the results of our own school for several years, 
and hence do not hesitate to speak very decidedly upon the 
various points touched upon in your inquiries. 

Very truly yours, 

E. B. HALE, 

jSup't Schools. 

St. Louis, May 29, 1873. 
Dear Sir : — 

We support a Normal School in our city for the reason 
that we must have our city schools taught by teachers who 
have grown up amid the social culture of our city. The 
State Normal Schools are filled with pupils from the country, 
and could not furnish us one tenth the number we need, nor 



47 



trained in the ways and methods we require. It is essential 
to our school s^^stem. 

We deem it essential to keep it separate from the High 
School, because : — 

(a.) Its discipline must be far more precise than is practi- 
cable in the latter. 

(&.) Its instruction must be on a different method. 

(c.) The esprit du corps so necessary to a Normal School 
cannot be achieved in it as a department of a High School. 
No department, fitting pupils for a trade or profession, can 
secure esprit du corps in an institution whose main object is 
general training. 

Very respectfully, 

W. T. HARRIS, 

8upH Public Schools, 

New York, June 16, 1873. 

Chas. HuTCHms, Esq. : — 

Dear Sir, — I consider a Normal School an essential part 
of every truly efficient system of Common Schools. 

There should- be an entire separation of the Normal School 
from the High School, the objects of the institution being 
quite distinct, and more especially because the tendency 
must be, as experience has uniformly shown, to lose sight of 
the Normal features^ and give exclusive attention to the 
academic. 

In my judgment, it is desirable and indispensable that the 
Normal pupils have an opportunity to observe from day to 
day the actual work of some regularly organized Primary or 
other school, to witness methods of instruction, discipline, 

etc. 

Very truly yours, 

HENRY KIDDLE, 

City Superintendent, 



48 



The folloiving extracts are from the forthcoming Annual Report of 
the School Committee. The first paragraph is from the Report 
of the Committee on the Girls' High School. The second par- 
agraph is from the general Report. 

"After long and mature deliberation, a majority of the 
School Board deemed it advisable to separate the Normal 
from the Girls' High School, and this separation went thor- 
oughly into effect at the conclusion of the regular school 
year in July, 1872." .... 

"For some ^^ears it has been growing more and more 
evident that this result would ultimately be reached. The 
number of girls wishing to become teachers does not com- 
prise nearlj^ all of those who desire a High School educa- 
tion. Experience has proved that both objects cannot be 
effected in the same school without some loss to the one 
or the other. At the same time, it seems highly important 
that the City of Boston should not abandon the practice, 
so successfully tried in the past, of giving the requisite 
instruction to those daughters of her citizens who wish to 
make teaching their profession." 

JAMES REED, Chairman, 
BAYLIES SANFORD, 
GEORGE M. HOBBS, 
WILLIAM H. LEARN ARD, JR., 
RICHARD J. FENELLY, 
CHRISTOPHER A. CONNOR, 
GEORGE D. RICKER, 
JOHN NOBLE. 



49 

In closing this Eeport, the Committee feel justified in 
presenting the following 

CONCLUSIONS. 

1. The Normal School was established, in 1852, as a part 
of the Public School System of Boston. 

2. It was established by the City Council, on the recom- 
mendation of the School Board. 

3. No action has been taken by the City Council, since 
that date, invalidating the legal status of this school. 

4. No action, on the part of the School Board, or the 
City Council, in regard to a High School for girls, has in 
any degree affected the foundation of the Normal School. 

5. The School Committee united a High School course 
of study with the Normal School course, and the school 
came to be called the Girls' High and Normal School. 

6. In 1872, the School Board separated the two courses, 
and returned the Normal School to its original condition, as a 
separate school. The City Council very properly recognized 
the importance of this step, and the legal right of the 
School Board to make the separation, and provided accom- 
modations for the Normal School. 

7. The statutes of the Commonwealth, and the decisions of 
the Supreme Court, seem to remove all doubt as to the legal 
rio-ht of the City of Boston, in 1852, to establish this 
school, and also as to the legal right and the duty of the 
School Board to perpetuate the same. 

8. The most enlightened educators in the country regard 



50 

Normal Schools as indispensable to the highest prosperity of 
the public schools. 

9. The School Committee of Boston have decided, for 
twenty-one years, in ftiyor of such a school. 

10. The experience of twenty-one years has made it mani- 
fest that the Normal School should be a distinct institution, 
devoted wholly to the preparation of teachers. 

Most of the cities and large towns in this Commonwealth, 
acting, as it were, by an educated instinct, have already es- 
tablished schools for this very purpose. Boston, whose good 
name has been spoken with honor wherever intelligence and 
sound learning have value, will not he first to go backward. 

Eespectfully submitted. 

CHARLES HUTCHINS, Chairman, 
JOHN NOBLE, 
WILLIAM B. MEREILL, 
WILLIAM H. LEARNARD, Jr., 
JOHN P. ORDWAY, 
MOODY MERRILL, 
GEORGE A. THAYER. 

Boston, June 25, 1873. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 771 683 # 



I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





QQQ5771t,a3Q 



Hollinger Corp, 
pH8.5 



UBRARV OF OONGR^! 




00Q2771ba30 



# 



Hollinger Corp. 
r.H ft.5 



